Global Cement News

Ghana: Ghacem has opened a 3000t cement terminal at Sefwi Dwenase in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality. The unit is the cement producer’s sixth terminal in the country, according to the Daily Guide newspaper. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement has also purchased new trucks to support the site.

US: Refractory manufacturer HarbisonWalker International has decided to close its plants at Oak Hill, Ohio and Sproul, Pennsylvania as it opens a new US$30m refractory plant at South Point, Ohio in early 2018. The closures will affect around 88 employees. Previously in 2016 the company negotiated an end to eleven months of industrial action at the Oak Hill site.

Algeria: Biskria Cement has started the kiln on its second new production line at its plant in Biskra. The 6000t/day line was supplied by China’s Sinoma. The Chinese plant builder announced the US$267m order in 2015. It included two production lines from raw materials to despatch. The cement producer operates three cement production lines at its plant with a production capacity of 4Mt/yr.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s profit after tax fell by 2% year-on-year to US$77.6m in the half year to 31 December 2017 from US$79m in the same period in 2016. The cement producer said that its cost of sales had increased by 21% due to rising coal and other fuels prices. Its sales revenue grew by 5.2% to US$297m from US$283m. Its cement production rose by 5.4% to 3.68Mt from 3.49Mt.

The company completed a new 1.25Mt/yr production line at its Karachi cement plant in December 2017. It is currently seeking government approval to build a new 2.3Mt/yr plant in Punjab Province. However due to the delay it is considering expanding its Pezu plant by 2.3Mt/yr instead. The cement producer also expanded its grinding plant in Iraq by 0.87Mt/yr to 1.74Mt/yr.

Pakistan: The Industries, Commerce and Investment department of the Government of Punjab has confirmed that it is banning the construction of new cement plants and the enlargement of existing plants. The decision follows approval by chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to the Nation newspaper. It is in response to a number of environmental issues allegedly caused by cement production in the province including damage to water tables and increased air pollution. Final confirmation of the ban came in response to the Supreme Court enforcing a similar ban near the Katas Raj Temples in the state.